In this week’s episode, Lauren and Rina interview the incredible social entrepreneur and campaigner, Tinuke Awe. Tinuke recounts her experiences raising her black autistic son and passionately describes the work that she is doing to challenge prejudice, create community and shine a light on her son’s identity. The group discusses the absence of role models and representation, the importance of finding community and how to tackle cultural barriers to acceptance of disabled children. It is an emotional and joyful conversation that veers between anger, tears and lots of laughter.

In this week’s episode Rina and Lauren discuss the importance of connecting with people who share your experience, building a community (hello the fkingnormal podcast!) and just how valuable this is for providing a safe space to cope through difficulties — together. They interview Australian author and advocate Melanie Dimmitt on her journey to accepting her less typical parenting path, what she learnt and what she has gone on to achieve to support others in a similar position.

Melanie discusses the initial feelings she had hearing her son’s diagnosis, her path to finding acceptance and how connecting with others in similar situations opened her eyes and prompted her to write her debut book. The group discuss their own routes to acceptance and how building support networks with others was the life line that they all needed. Melanie spoke candidly about what she first struggled with, but also highlighted just how relieving it was to find others that she could relate so deeply to.

This week Rina, Lauren and season one guest Gemma Sherlock, interview trained psychotherapist Emmett de Monterey on his extraordinary life and memoir ‘Go The Way Your Blood Beats.’

Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at 18 months old, Emmett was raised by loving, accepting and liberal parents and yet he grappled for a long time with accepting his own identity. His feelings towards his disability, coupled with the realisation that he was gay made his early adolescence a difficult time in his life. This was further compounded by becoming a media sensation and ‘charity poster child’ for a ground-breaking gait surgery in the US.

In episode 5 Lauren and Rina talk about a skill we have all had to develop as parents of disabled children – advocacy - with Mum of two and lawyer Caroline MacPake (Withers professionally).

Systems of support aren’t always automatically in place for disabled children and their families, and the world simply has not been designed for disabled people. As parents of disabled children, we have to champion, persuade and shout loudly on our kids behalf.